My First Build, Let's Start Small... (Jorge DONE, Heavy Machine Gun WIP, Pic Heavy)

[Satchmo III]

Good catch Jonus...you gotta start somewhere, eh? If you picked up the spreader that is shaped like a credit-card and is flexible you can flex it after the excess Bondo on the spreader cures to it crack off.

You might want to look into sanding by hand. With a sanding block and starting with 80-grit paper it's not too bad to sand the rough stuff. And you'll probably want to hand-sand to refine things down the line so it might be good to pick up the knack early on (then buy an electric-sander if you still think you need to). I forewent the electric-sander and liked the control hand-sanding provided.

Keep up the good work!

 

[Jonus]

Are you planning on using the high def back pack? I've managed to unfold it, and its about 50 pages in total!

If I do the back pack (and I will eventually) I'm thinking it'll be a low def, pep assisted, scratch build of insulation foam, cardboard, maybe EVA foam, and the thinner cell foam for details. If I can get all my armour done for the Expo and have a bit of extra time I might just get the basic shape of the pack to wear.

Good catch Jonus...you gotta start somewhere, eh? If you picked up the spreader that is shaped like a credit-card and is flexible you can flex it after the excess Bondo on the spreader cures to it crack off.

You might want to look into sanding by hand. With a sanding block and starting with 80-grit paper it's not too bad to sand the rough stuff. And you'll probably want to hand-sand to refine things down the line so it might be good to pick up the knack early on (then buy an electric-sander if you still think you need to). I forewent the electric-sander and liked the control hand-sanding provided.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks for the advice. It's always appreciated. I guess I'll try my hand () at hand-sanding. I think I thought electric would be easier to get it all even, but I was only basing this off of my job on the hand plate, but as you can recall that shouldn't really count since the mixture I was using wasn't exactly what it should have been.

I have a 80 grit sponge, and a 160 (I think that's the number), and a scouring pad. The top of the helmet that I did last night doesn't seem like it will be too much hassle to smooth out, so I give it a shot. It looks like I might not be seeing my folks this weekend any way, so I won't have the electric for a while. I don't think I'll be buying myself one if I know I can just borrow it.

 

[Jonus]

Update

It's been over a week, so I think it's about time for an update. There should be more to tell, but there isn't.

I had started a forearm, but I could tell it would be too small, so I started over. I just finished it last night and it fits pretty perfectly. I didn't pep the edge near the elbow because my uber muscular forearms just wouldn't allow it.

I've figured out that there is no way I can finish all my pieces with a full bondo treatment, so I've decided that I'll just continue to pep with cardstock and then pad each piece with EVA foam to give it support and durability. I may even try to make some pieces that are pure foam, but I don't think I'd be saving any time if I try to do those in detail. So far I've pepped and padded my upper and fore arm pieces and they feel pretty sturdy as is. If I paint them in their raw state I know it won't look as good as it could, but in the interest of actually having a full suit to wear I think it'll be fine going this route. I can always fine tune it after the expo in preparation for Halo-ween.

Since I've already started it I'll continue with the bondoing of my helmet. It just needs one on more full coat and some touch ups and I think it's done. I'm also thinking I'll give the bondo treatment to my chest. Those two pieces are usually the main focus, so I want them to look great. Hopefully they don't just bring attention to how much everything else is lacking.

In other news... my wife just found out that her store is closing, so as of this week she'll have no job. If she's out of work for a while then I may not be putting as much money into my build either (another reason why I won't be doing too much bondo work). Lucky for me I made this purchase a couple weeks ago:

It finally arrived late last week, delayed because of the Canada Post strike. It fits the helmet perfectly, and makes me want to finish it even quicker so I can get it installed.

Sorry for the lack of pictures of my other pieces. I'll try to get some tonight. I'm pretty proud of my upper arm padding job (remember this?) so I want to show it off. It involves memory foam and an old t-shirt. Stay tuned!

 

[B1TMAP]

...
The cylinder part still looks pretty big, but there's not much I can do about that at this point. I might trim down the top part of what's holding in the cylinder. I think that's the main culprit in making it look so huge.

The chest piece looks perfect now, I'm actually putting off building the full chest pep, It scares me lol, but seeing how you are doing similar to me in what I'm doing to the helmet. I feel ok now! thanks

 

[Jonus]

The chest piece looks perfect now, I'm actually putting off building the full chest pep, It scares me lol, but seeing how you are doing similar to me in what I'm doing to the helmet. I feel ok now! thanks

Thanks, B1TMAP. Which file are you using for the chest? Mine is modeled by L3X BLU3R1V3R, unfolded by Carpathiavh99. It wasn't too challenging to build. In fact it was a lot of fun. Now that I'm done it and I've been looking at reference and other people's peps I kinda wish I used another file. There are a few inaccuracies, but it's nothing too major that you'd notice just looking at it by it's self (unless you're a total Halo nerd with those things memorized). Anyone who looks at it will think "Cool Jorge armour," or at least "wow, I have no idea what I'm looking at, but it looks awesome."

I didn't take any pictures last night, but I'll try to remember to tonight. I'm pepping my right bicep. Unfortunately when I scaled my left one I didn't save the file before a power outage, so I lost what the scale was. I measured it's constructed size and scaled the right one accordingly, but it's come out a bit smaller. Hopefully it won't be too noticable once the shoulder attachments are covering them, but the size that the right bicep is now is what the left probably should have been. It's a good fit on my arm and shouldn't need too much padding.

Next thing I'll pep is my second forearm, but before I do that I want to start cutting the bracer attachment out of foam. Since it cover a good chunk of the forearm I'll probably plan my next pep so I don't waste time on a detailed surface that just gets covered in the end. I almost did that for my back because of the backpack covering it, but there's a chance I won't even build that in time so it's a good thing I didn't.

I had some guys over last night and I put on the armour that I've built so far so they could see it all together. It feels so good. I can't wait to finish. I feel like such a beast in it! EXCITEMENT!

 

[Jonus]

Test Fitting

So last night I finished my right bicep, except for the little piece that sticks up. I might do that part with just foam, I'm not sure yet. Here's a side by side with the left:

So they're not too far off, but this close together you can obviously tell the right is shorter. Hopefully with the shoulder attachments on it really won't be noticeable.

Here's the padding I've done on the left:

As you can see there is both EVA foam and some other softer squishy black padding.

That is a piece of a memory foam mattress topper I got at Walmart for $20.

It's wrapped in a tshirt I cut up and stuck on with spray adhesive. I have yet to decide if I'll attach it with velcro or just hot glue it in. I won't secure it until I've painted the piece though.

This is my first forearm, which I've lined with cardboard and EVA foam. It's actually very sturdy and comfortable.

And now, let's try everything on...

Under everything I'm wearing what I wore last year. It's this spandex-ish jumpsuit for under hockey equipment. I like it because it's fairly light and breathable, doesn't look to shiny, and it has a zipper down the front from the neck to the crotch, as well as a second zipper that goes from crotch to neck, for those times when I need to go to the little spartan's room.

Though you can't really tell, under all that plastic on the visor is mirrored gold. (Even though it looks silver here)

Like a boss.:cool

Not everything is padded, so there are some pieces no sitting quite right, but you get the idea. The helmet will sit a bit higher, as will the right bicep. I think that will also help it look less puny compared to the left. I'll also be adding more EVA under the torso.

The only pieces that I've finished that aren't pictured here are the hand plates (since I don't have gloves to mount them on yet) and the UA attachment for the helmet.

 

[iancorrao]

Looks pretty awesome so far! I tried my hand at a foam bracer/gauntlet without any pep guides and just looking at the my halo character and... well.. it looks ok, but I think I'll be going back to the drawing board and printing the pep "guides".

 

[Jonus]

Thanks Ian. I think I may use pep guides to do the bracers, but maybe not because I think it'll be hard to get the perfect scale so they fit nicely. Freehand I'll be able to get them more snug. I'll definitely be using the pep file to figure out what pieces to make though.

Also: INFANTRYMAN! Enjoy my celebratory avatar change.

 

[NovemberAdam]

This is looking awesome dude! I am really impressed with the torso piece, it looks great.

 

[Jonus]

Thanks! Yeah, having the arm pieces on makes the chest look better since it bulks me up more so I actually fit it.

I started foam building a bracer last night. I might scrap it and just pep it instead. I was doing it totally freehand, just looking at the pep file and ref images on the computer, but maybe I should actually print them out to use as a template.

 

[XxCrossFadexX]

Congrats man, Its lookin great! The fit looks real snug hahaha.

 

[Jonus]

After reading through all the updates in my subscription list I almost feel embarrassed to post and update of my own. I literally spent all weekend working on my second forearm and both bracers. Aside from eating and sleeping (and watching movies while pepping) this is all I did on Saturday and Sunday.

I feel I did a much better job of padding the inside of my second forearm. It's nice and round.

Now I just need to figure out how I'm going to make it look like the bracers are actually attached to the gauntlets. Where the "buckle" lies now there isn't much of a flat surface that it could attach to. I may have to either extend the "straps", or create a flat space where they are now which would be frustrating because that would cover some details that I put time into pepping. Since I knew the bracer covered the whole top I didn't bother pepping those recessed areas.

I don't know if I'll figure that out now or just wait until I'm closer to the stage where everything will come together. Next I need to pad my right bicep, then I think I may start on my shoulders.

Since this is a weak update I'll throw in the bonus of listing all the movies/tv that I watched (that I can remember)

Hot Shots
Hot Shots Part Deux
Wall-e
Deep Blue Sea
The Departed
Superman The Animated Series
Friends (hey, I had to share the tv with my wife some times)
The Glee Project (see above)
Firefly
Hulk

That's all I can think of right now, but I'm sure that there was more. What do you guys do while you pep?

 

[thorn696]

You're build looks like it moving nicely, If you got that much done in one weekend you're actually doing better than some of us (me). As for the straps just add a little paper to extend it and then make sure you brace it at that point before hardening.

 

[Jonus]

You're build looks like it moving nicely, If you got that much done in one weekend you're actually doing better than some of us (me). As for the straps just add a little paper to extend it and then make sure you brace it at that point before hardening.

Thanks, that actually makes me feel better. I don't get to work on stuff very often, and I have a looming deadline, so I guess that finishing on a few small parts feels like I haven't accomplished much.

I was looking at some reference and I noticed that the straps could stand to extend a bit more, and I may also add some paper under the main plate to make it sit more flush with the gauntlet.

The buckles reach to just before the piece starts to curve around the arm. I'll measure this out tonight.

 

[NovemberAdam]

One option for the buckles, is to harden the piece and then cut the buckles so you can attach them at the right spot and fill in the gap with another material. Possibly fill the gap with more paper and then harden that fill piece. If that makes sense.

 

[The Red Baron]

Yo-ho-ho! This is some pretty awesome stuff here!
Fantastic work, my friend, gives me more motivation to continue on my armor.
Quick question: how much would an undersuit like that cost? Not the armor, just the black underlay.

 

[B1TMAP]

Looking at your stuff has me motivated to start pepping my parts again.

 

[Jonus]

One option for the buckles, is to harden the piece and then cut the buckles so you can attach them at the right spot and fill in the gap with another material. Possibly fill the gap with more paper and then harden that fill piece. If that makes sense.

Yeah, that makes sense. I think I may use foam to help me get the size right and then cut out the paper to go over it, that way it should also stay structurally sound.

Yo-ho-ho! This is some pretty awesome stuff here!
Fantastic work, my friend, gives me more motivation to continue on my armor.
Quick question: how much would an undersuit like that cost? Not the armor, just the black underlay.

Thanks, and glad to be of motivation to you. I don't quite recall how much I spent on the undersuit. I bought it at Wal-Mart last year, but it would've only been $20 or less I think.

Looking at your stuff has me motivated to start pepping my parts again.

Cool. Sometimes I look at other people's work and think mine sucks so why even bother, lol. I guess mine just makes people think "I could do that!" so it gets them off their butt. Glad to be of service.

 

[Unity]

This is a seriously AWESOME build!

 

[Jonus]

This is a seriously AWESOME build!

Haha, thanks.

Last night I pepped my favourite piece so far: the right EVA shoulder. I don't know why, but I love it so much. Maybe it's because it was a joy to build instead of a pain. Such large flat faces, no tiny tabs. *Sigh* And it looks great to boot. It's pretty huge, but so it everything I'm doing so I think it works. I almost scaled it even bigger but I thought "that can't be right," remeasured and got a better size. I didn't take any pics, but I may tonight because I love it so.

I sent a pm to FoolyCoolyMan because I'm hoping to get the files for his grenadier shoulder. Once I get that and receive my gloves that are in the mail all my upper body armour will be fully built! (minus backpack, but that's not technically armour)